Follow the department on social media!

Important Dates and Deadlines

• ICT/Curriculum Changes: August 19 to September 6
• Deadline to Add a Full-Semester Course: Monday, September 9

Students in certain cohorts (new students, students on academic probation, re-entering students) are required to touch base with an advisor before Monday, September 9. Look out for individual emails regarding this requirement, and be sure to follow the instructions in that email to avoid having an advising hold placed on your account later on.

As always, see our advising website for contact information and instructions for scheduling appointments.

If you are expecting to graduate at the end of this semester, remember to add yourself to the degree list. You can do this online in Self Service, and must do so no later than September 9 (but preferably as soon as possible, to give the records office time to do an official degree audit and let you know if you’re missing anything in your spring schedule).

Upcoming ESA Events

Paid Internships

Illinois Club Scholarships

Through endowments housed with the University of Illinois Foundation, the Illinois Club provides financial support to worthy UI undergraduate students. This year, we will be awarding scholarships to students in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Global Studies, Education, STEM fields, and the Fine Arts. Applicants must have earned at least 60 credit hours by the beginning of the Spring 2025 semester and may graduate no earlier than December 2025. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required at the time of application and at the time of winning the award. Applications will open on September 3, 2024 and close on October 12, 2024 at 5 PM. Find more details about each scholarship and about the application process here.

Resources for First Generation Students

Help Us Reward Excellent Teaching

If you took an English department course last year with an instructor you found to be especially skilled, knowledgeable, inspiring, and/or responsive to your needs as a student, please nominate them for an English department teaching award.

You can nominate any professor, lecturer, or instructor who has taught any English department course (BTW, CW, ENGL, RHET) on any topic.  You can nominate more than one person.  All you have to do is fill out the online form available here by Sep. 15.

We rely heavily on student nominations in selecting candidates for these awards, so thanks in advance for taking the time to help us out.

A Message from the Provost’s Office, Deadline TODAY

Dear Students,

Are you looking for opportunities to get involved and work together with peers and campus leadership to strengthen our community? If so, we have the perfect opportunity for you!

The Office of the Provost is now accepting applications for appointment to the 2024-2025 Student Success Undergraduate Advisory Board.

The board is a group of diverse undergraduate students who volunteer to serve as advisors to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Provost and Student Success @ Illinois. They aim to accurately portray the current realities of the undergraduate experience by articulating the highlights and challenges of being a student at the university. As representatives of the undergraduate population at Illinois, their objective is to convey what could make a successful undergraduate student experience.

The application can be accessed here: https://publish.illinois.edu/studentsuccessboard/apply/.

If you’re selected to participate as a Board member, appointments will be for one full academic year. All applications are due Friday, September 6, 2024, at 11:59 PM CDT.

We hope you will consider applying because your voice is a critical part of the work that we do to ensure your success while at Illinois and beyond graduation!

Ninth Letter Web Edition

Ninth Letter is pleased to announce the publication of our summer 2024 web edition: Caretaking. The entire issue is now live (and free) on our website. Give it a read!

The Ninth Letter web editions are collaboratively produced each semester by the undergraduate students enrolled in CW460: Intro to Literary Publishing. Our fearless web editor last semester was the incomparable Zachariah McVicker. A huge thank you to the young editors and Zachariah for their work choosing the contents of this issue.

New Course! FAA 448: Crip* Collective Advanced Study

LAS Career Services Upcoming Events!

LAB: Seniors Jumpstart your Future, Sept 10, 12:30-2:30 pm, in 105 Greg. There is still room to join us!!! Please complete our form or register in Handshake. Need help getting started? Bring your questions, your uncertainty, or your laptop (to work on tasks). Staff is on hand to answer questions and offer guidance. We are providing lunch. No agenda, so come and go as you need.

Quiet Book Club-Inaugural Event, Sept 13, 1:00-3:00 pm in 105 Greg Hall. Explore the new LAS Career Services library: biographies, self-help books, and guides to career paths. Select a book from our collection, and read it in quiet company with others. There will be time at the beginning and end to connect with your fellow readers (no agenda, but many snacks & tea).

LAS: Career Fair LAB, Sept 17, 12:30- 2:30 pm in 105 Greg Hall. Are you planning on joining us? Please complete this form or register in Handshake. Get help with whatever concerns you about career fairs; deciding if they’re worth your while, getting feedback on your resume (bring a laptop), researching employers, practicing conversations with recruiters, and choosing what to wear. Learn how to make fairs work for you while connecting with others with the same questions. No agenda, so come and go as you need. Please register, we are providing lunch.

City Year Fair Preparation Workshop, Sept 24, 3-5 pm in the LAS Lisnek Hub (Lincoln Hall). Join us in an interactive session to help you prepare for the career fair and an overview of City Year. You can work on crafting your pitch, reviewing your resume, and learning to chat with recruiters effectively. Plus, enjoy pizza while you prepare!

Feldco Coffee Chat, Sept 26, 1-3:00 pm in Hub (Lincoln Hall). Feldco is excited to invite students to our upcoming Coffee Chat, where you’ll have the chance to learn about our company’s journey and the exciting internship opportunities we offer (digital marketing, financial planning, human resources, or analysis). Join us to explore how you can contribute to a company that has been a cornerstone of Midwestern home improvement for over 40 years.

Speak with a Diplomat – Sept 27, 10-11:30 am in the LAS Lisnek Hub (Lincoln Hall). Hear Susan Falatko, Diplomat in Residence, as she returns to us for the 3rd time. Come with all your questions about the application process, recruiting, and the various opportunities available. She will be at the ACES + LAS career fair as well.

Student Assistantship in the Library

The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections (IHLC), a unit of the Special Collections Division in the Main Library, is hiring for an undergraduate assistant position to start in fall 2024. The IHLC is a small unit in the library, and undergraduate assistants play a vital role in supporting unit operations and making collection materials available for research. Those conducting research with the library and archives materials include students looking for primary sources, genealogists investigating family history, scholars in various fields, and community members and professionals researching people, the land, architecture, and more.

Click here to find out more about the position and how to apply. Even though the description says that geography majors will be given preference, the IHLC reached out to us specifically because they have hired English department students in the past and are eager to do so in the future, so it’s definitely worth checking out this opportunity!

Interested in volunteering in the local community?

Participate in iHelp 2024 on October 5th from 10am – 4pm!
 
Presented by Student Alumni Ambassadors, iHelp is the signature campus-wide day of service in the fall that brings together students, their surrounding community, and university alumni in an organized effort to create a culture of giving at the University of Illinois. Each year, over a thousand students come together to assist dozens of agencies across the Champaign-Urbana area in a display of gratitude to the community we call home. The Student Alumni Ambassadors (SAA) handle the logistics of the event, advertise the availability of volunteers to service agencies, and recruit students to participate. We strive to encourage students to realize the effect they have on the community via service in order to better not just the city, but also themselves.
Register now! Whether you want to get your RSO involved or just yourself, we would love to have you! All registration forms and other event info can be found at https://www.illinisaa.com/ihelp . Please reach out to us with any questions at illinivpoutreach@gmail.com .  ”

Join the Skeuomorphics!

The Skeuomorph Press and Book Lab is housed in the FabLab, where they have a variety of resources relating to the history and art of the book (think letterpress printing, book binding, zine making, risograph, typewriters, word processing, and early home computing). The associated student organization, Skeuomorphics, is headed by one of our own English majors, Aaron Mukhopadhyay! For more info or to get involved, email skeuomorph-press@illinois.edu.

Join GLOBE in FA24 & Make Friends!

GLOBE, sponsored by International Education (Student Affairs) stands for Global Leaders Orange and Blue Engagement. The goal of GLOBE is to provide opportunities for all students to enhance intercultural communication skills, leadership experience, and build lifelong friendships. This program is open to all current students and can be repeated multiple times. 

You will want to participate if you:

• Are a student at U of I (domestic or international) 
• Have a sincere interest in sharing your culture and building relationships 
• Have an interest in getting involved in campus life 
• Want to develop intercultural communication and leadership skills 

More information found here: https://go.illinois.edu/GLOBE 
Submit your interest via this link:  https://go.illinois.edu/GLOBEInterestForm

Undergraduate Research Workshops

Check these workshops (including one specifically for new incoming students). Click here to find out more and to register (space is limited)!

Planning Your Research Journey
Designed specifically for incoming freshman students (and first-year transfer students), this session introduces students to the research enterprise at the University of Illinois. We aim to: address any concerns students may have about getting involved in research; explore potential research interests and how those interests align with research happening on campus; and help develop a timeline and actionable steps for both short-term and long-term goals to advance their research journey.

Getting Started in Research Workshop
This workshop will introduce students to the various forms of undergraduate research available on our campus. It will guide them in developing a plan of action to locate research opportunities and provide strategies for contacting faculty research mentors. Students will leave with a clearer understanding of undergraduate research, increased confidence in reaching out to faculty, and a list of potential mentors.

For Pre-Health Students

Yes, pre-med (and pre-nursing, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, etc.) students can major in English or creative writing! If this describes you, it pays to connect with the folks in Health Professions Advising!

Business Opportunities Open to All

New Mentoring Program

The Mentoring Academy exists to create a community of Mexican-American/Latino students where they feel supported and empowered to reach their full potential. The program seeks to inspire future generations of Latino leaders who are prepared to make significant contributions to the community and to provide additional professional support for Mexican and Mexican–American/Latino students.

The program is scheduled to run from September 4th to November 20th, 2024, from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm. Sessions will be held in person at the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, located at 614 E Daniel St., Third Floor, Champaign, IL 61820, and will also be available remotely via Zoom for University of Illinois Springfield students. Click the link above to find out more.

Study Abroad Opportunity for First-Gen Students

MUSE Workshop for Prospective ENGL Grad Students

Follow the department on social media!

Important Dates and Deadlines

TODAY!
April 12: Deadline to DROP a 2nd-8-week course

If you are expecting to participate in the English & Creative Writing Convocation on May 11 and you have not yet registered (remember, this is different from putting yourself on the degree list) please email englishadvising@illinois.edu right away and let us know. All information is available here.

Fall Semester Schedule Updates

A new version of the FA24 Cheat Sheet is available on the website!

Upcoming Literary Events

Check out details here!
4/18:  CW Awards Reading | 4:30 | Illini Union 314A 
4/25:  Corey Van Landingham book release w/ John Dudek | 5:30 | Analog Wine bar 
5/4:   (Saturday)  MFA Final Public Reading | 1:00 | Illini Union 210 

Upcoming LAS Career Services Events

Career Services Events (open to all students)
Global Professional Spotlight Series (Online), April 12, 12 pm to 1 pm. (Link in Handshake)

FOR SENIORS: Job Search Jumpstart Lab, April 16, 11-1 pm in 107 Greg Hall – Come with your questions, your laptop, your resume or cover letter drafts, and any concerns that have been holding you back from seeking that first post-college job. Meet other Seniors who are wrestling with the same challenges (you are not alone). Our staff will be on hand during this 2-hour open session (come as long as you need) to answer questions, make suggestions, review drafts, or just help you get started. Lunch will be provided, with veggie options available. PLEASE register in Handshake to order the correct amount of food! (Signing up means you get an email reminder.)

Library Pop-Up Traveling Bookmobile

Looking for more fun things to read? The University Library is going on tour with some must-reads from genres like Fantasy and Sci-Fi, Romance and Contemporary, Horror and Suspense, and Poetry and Memoir. Join us from 11 AM to 3 PM at our different pop-up locations! Bring your iCard and check out your next read!

Climate and Crisis, 1660-1820: April 19-20 @ Levis Faculty Center

Culture Talk, Joy Harjo & Jenny L. Davis

Featuring Joy Harjo (23rd United States Poet Laureate; member of the Muscogee [Creek] Nation) and Jenny L.  Davis (American Indian Studies and Anthropology; member of the Chickasaw Nation). Join us in person or live stream the event.

Date & Time: Apr 23, 2024 @7:30 pm  

Location: In person at Foellinger Great Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts OR Live Stream

About the Speakers

Joy Harjo 

In 2019, Joy Harjo was appointed the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold the position and only the second person to serve three terms in the role. Harjo’s nine books of poetry include Weaving Sundown in a Scarlett Light, An American Sunrise, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems, and She Had Some Horses. She is also the author of two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior, which invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her “poet-warrior” road. She has edited several anthologies of Native American writing including When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through — A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, and Living Nations, Living Words, the companion anthology to her signature poet laureate project. Her many writing awards include the 2024 Frost Medal for Distinguished Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Society of America, the 2022 Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2019 Jackson Prize from Poets & Writers, the Ruth Lilly Prize from the Poetry Foundation, the 2015 Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets, and the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Board of Directors Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and is artist-in-residence for the Bob Dylan Center. A renowned musician, Harjo performs with her saxophone nationally and internationally; her most recent album is I Pray For My Enemies. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Jenny L. Davis

Jenny L. Davis is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and an Associate Professor of Anthropology and American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where she is the director of the American Indian Studies Program and co-director of the Center for Indigenous Science. She is the co-editor of the Studies in Language and Gender series at Oxford University Press.

Her research interests sit at the intersections of Indigenous language futurism (including language reclamation & revitalization); Queer Indigenous Studies; Speculative fiction and poetry; NAGPRA & repatriation; and collaborative/community-based methods. Her research has been published in the Annual Review of Anthropology, American Anthropologist, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, Gender & Language, Language & Communication, Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, the American Journal of Biological Anthropology, and The Routledge Companion to Publicly Engaged Humanities Scholarship (forthcoming), among others. She is the recipient of two book prizes: the 2019 Beatrice Medicine Award from the Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures for Talking Indian: Identity and Language Revitalization in the Chickasaw Renaissance (University of Arizona Press, 2018) and the 2014 Ruth Benedict Book Prize from the Association for Queer Anthropology and the American Anthropological Association for her co-edited volume Queer Excursions: Retheorizing Binaries in Language, Gender, and Sexuality (Oxford University Press, 2014).

IBC Positions for Resume-Building

Illinois Business Consulting (IBC) is seeking highly motivated and detail-oriented students from any college who are interested in marketing, photo and video production, alumni relations, or event planning. These are unpaid positions, but they don’t expect the work will take any more than 10 hours a week (and can be flexible depending on students’ academic schedules), and these are opportunities that will provide students with tangible experiences that they can reflect back on when building their resumes or interviewing for employment post-graduation. Additionally, participating students will be full members of IBC, an organization that provides its members with multiple opportunities for personal and professional growth!

• Alumni Operations and Engagement Coordinator: https://illinois.joinhandshake.com/edu/jobs/8823113
• Media Production Specialist: https://illinois.joinhandshake.com/edu/jobs/8823081
• Marketing Associate: https://illinois.joinhandshake.com/edu/jobs/8823025/details

Janelle Joseph Prize for Environmental Writing

Upcoming Performance by WYW

Don’t forget these!

FALL COURSE: WRIT 300

Students must successfully complete this course to become a paid undergraduate consultant with the Writers Workshop.

Fulbright Scholarship Opportunities

Interested in research, teaching, or graduate study abroad? The Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards 2,000 scholarships annually for students to conduct research, teach English, or pursue graduate study in 140 countries. For over ten years, the University of Illinois has been a top producers of Fulbright U.S. student awards. Apply to be a 2025 awardee! 

Eligibility
Current juniors, seniors, and recent alumni in all academic disciplines, who are U.S. citizens, are eligible to apply. 

The Fulbright Scholarship funds 1 year of research, teaching, or graduate study. The selection committee rates candidates based on their academic or professional qualifications, language skills, evidence of maturity, motivation, adaptability to a different cultural environment, knowledge of the host country, and the impression a candidate will make abroad as a citizen representing the U.S. 

Deadline 
The priority deadline for undergraduates and recent alumni is June 24, 2024.
The required campus deadline is August 26, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. (noon).

Fulbright Personal Statement Workshops:

Online –Monday, April 15, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Register HERE
In Person – Tuesday, April 16, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.- Rm IUB 514

Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Workshops:

Online – Tuesday, April 23, 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. – Register HERE
In Person – Wednesday, April 24, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Rm IUB 514

Fulbright Research & Graduate Study Workshops:

Online – Friday, May 3, 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Register HERE

Need Academic Support?

I-Connect Experience

Summer Course Sneak Peek

Illinois Student Undergraduate Research Journal (ILSURJ)

Illinois Student Undergraduate Research Journal (ILSURJ) are looking for Copy Editors, Content Editors, Layout Specialists/Graphic Designers, and Public Relations Staff.

ILSURJ has been established for the purpose of advancing undergraduate research in all disciplines at the University of Illinois. Through the biannual publication of student research in both print and electronic format, ILSURJ showcases the dynamic nature of undergraduate inquiry on campus. Our goal is to build bridges between undergraduate and graduate students, faculty among varying disciplines, and the public. 

Through our peer-edited, faculty-reviewed electronic and print publications, we strive to develop and display the work produced by our high-achieving undergraduate researchers in all academic disciplines in the spirit of development towards professional research. We aim to inspire interest in research and individual curiosity throughout the student body, faculty, and surrounding community. To review the roles available check out the application below!

APPLY NOW!

New Student & Family Experiences is hiring Orientation Leaders

New Student and Family Experiences is looking for undergraduate students to serve as Orientation Leaders to help us welcome our Fall 2024 new students!  The position description and link to apply are below.

The OL position is designed to offer students the opportunity to implement orientation programming for new first year students and family members. OLs should be knowledgeable about the University of Illinois and have a desire to help new students have a successful transition. OLs attend a paid spring training session to help prepare them to be student leaders for New Student & Family Experience events. All OLs will assist at various events such as International Student Orientation, Fall Orientation/Welcome Days and various other orientation programs. Opportunities for continued fall/spring OL work will also be available. More information will be provided at training. The hourly rate for the OL position is $15.

APPLY NOW: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/438108272

Spring 2024 WRC Book Clubs

LAS Career Services Spring Programming

Call for Submissions

You are invited to submit your work to the Madison Journal of Literary Criticism for the Spring 2024 Dream Edition! This edition will encompass what it means to “dream of more,” which includes both contemplating future aspirations and reimagining in a multitude of constructed contexts. Whether it entails the past, present, future, systems, institutions, relationships, methodologies, holidays, politics, fashion, education, emotions…we live in a world of constructs. To break away from these constructs, we dream of something new, something kinder, something better. This edition focuses on how those dreams take shape and will showcase the collective desire—and manifestation—of change that transcends the limits of our current reality. This edition we hope to publish criticism: academic, poetic, in the medium of art or prose or short stories. We hope to have a loose theme as writers and creators are more than willing to interpret, define, and redefine the term however suits them best, so the submitted work does not have to explicitly tie to abolition or social justice. We welcome nuanced perspectives and multiple interpretations, so please submit! 

For samples of work previously published : View MJLC’s Past Editions

If you have any questions, please direct them to mjlc@rso.wisc.edu